It turns out reports of a suspension were premature. Raiders coach Jon Gruden issued a brief statement Friday and said wide receiver Antonio Brown was back with the team and the plan was for him to play Monday night against the Denver Broncos.

“I’m excited to be out here today. I want to apologize to my teammates, the organization,” Brown said. “Enough talk now. I’m excited to be out here with my teammates and grateful for all the fans and I’m excited to be a part of Raider Nation and see you guys soon.”

Gruden delivered the news before practice, walking over to reporters during the media window.

“Antonio is back today,” Gruden said. “We’re very excited about that, ready to move on. He’s had a lot of, obviously, time to think about things, and we’re happy to have him back and I know Raider Nation’s excited about that too.

Gruden took one question after the initial statement. Asked if Brown would play, Gruden said, “That’s the plan.”

Once off the podium, ESPN reported Brown denied using the term “cracker” in regards to Mayock and said the two had spoken “one,on one, man-to-man.”

Brown’s had issues from his helmet to his frostbitten feet this preseason, culminating in a shouting match with general manager Mike Mayock in which the wide receiver reportedly called Mayock a “cracker” and hurled swear words at him.

Friday morning, Brown reportedly gave an “emotional apology” to the Raiders in a team meeting, flanked by team captains, although teammates were reluctant to delve into specifics.

“I’ll say this. We had a team meeting where Antonio addressed the team,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “We were up there with him, a couple of captains. We communicated back and forth when that was done we were all excited to move forward.”

Running back Jalen Richard said there was a healthy dialogue between captains, Brown and the team, and it even ended with a staple of the reality series “Hard Knocks.”

“They kind of spoke to us as a whole, but also spoke to A.B. to let him know we support you,” Richard said. “We’ve all got to have a line of communication among one another and at the end of the day that’s what’s going to keep us together as a whole.

“We get coached, but we’re out there fighting for each other and we play for each other. If we can’t do that, it’s never going to work. We just expressed that. Everyone took it well, and we had to knock on wood at the end of it.”

As for any period of uncertainty, Richard said, “We kept doing our regular thing and let the coaches handle what they need to handle . Now we got him, so its good.”

Safety Karl Joseph said the team mood was upbeat, knowing that Brown would be a part of the Raiders going forward.

“We felt good about it,” Joseph said. “He’s obviously a great player. We want him to be a part of this team. We welcome him back. It’s up to us to get ready for Denver. That’s all we’re worried about now.”

While Brown missed almost the entire portion of the Napa training camp, he had been consistently working with the team until Thursday’s absence the day after his confrontation with Mayock. As a result, offensive coordinator Greg Olson expects his addition to the offense to be seamless.

“I’d planned on having him all along, or we have as an offensive staff,” Olson said. “Had a little bit of a glitch the other day, but that’s been cleared up, so nothing’s really changed.”

Olson said the Raiders did red zone work and were prepared to adjust the playbook if Brown wasn’t there. It turned out that wasn’t necessary.

“It worked out great,” Olson said.

Olson also reiterated any problems Brown has had have not been in between the lines.

“We’d like to believe he’s in a great place, right now, mentally,” Olson said. “When he has been at practice, he has been the furthest thing from a disappointment that you could find. We’re all excited to see him play.”

Reports Thursday after Brown’s spat with Mayock suggested that Brown was likely to be suspended, and positioned the Raiders as exploring the option to void Brown’s 3-year, $50 million contract signed this spring due to conduct detrimental to the team.

It was important to Brown financially to be suited up for Week 1. As a vested veteran, Brown will be guaranteed this year’s salary of more than $14 million in the form of termination pay.

Although there were initial reports of an impending suspension, it was clear when Gruden spoke to the media Thursday that wasn’t necessarily the case. Gruden owns the final say on all football matters.

“I’m emotional about it. I hope you understand why,” Gruden said. “I think a lot of this guy. I think Antonio is a great receiver and I think deep down he’s a really good guy, so I’m frustrated. I’m not going to say any more about it. I hope it all works out, but I don’t have anything official to say about anything else until I get all the facts and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“It hasn’t effected (preparation) at all because No. 1, the players weren’t here yesterday when everything happened and we’ve just been assuming he was going to play all along and obviously that’s the way it looks right now,” Fangio told the Denver media.